I’m not one who is too terribly fond of punk rock, but I really enjoy a band that breaks genre boundaries. This band successfully brings some great synth work into punk rock while maintaining the loud, energetic punk feel. The distorted guitars and powerful square waves clash so well that it’s sometimes hard to differentiate the guitar from the synth.
A song that especially speaks to me as unique is track 7 “Surrender”. The variation and breaks for random weird noises was fun to listen to. Speaking of weird noises, some of the songs incorporate great static, reverberating ambiances to introduce or layer on top of songs. It’s a great break from the energy of the loud sections.
This is an album that understands that it can be exhausting to listen to 45 minutes of a wall of noise full of rocking guitars and fast punching drums. POW! also does well to not stay on the same set of power chords for too long. For the most part, the tracks seemed to transition from verse to bridge to chorus smoothly and appropriately.
This album did many things right. Solidly written with variation, interesting takes on punk, and kept the listener in mind with just the right amount of rising and falling actions. I generally veer away from punk and I still had a good time because of the bands authenticity. I’m sure people who are more punk oriented would appreciate this. My only regret in listening to this album is hearing an FCC violation in track ten which featured an interesting trade-off between a guitar solo and a synth solo during the middle of the song. It’s sad to know that that song won’t make it through the air waves.
Recommended If You Like: The Ramones, Sex Pistols (but with a synthesizer)
Recommended Tracks: 7 (Surrender), 3 (Liquid Daydream), 9 (2000 Now!)
Do Not Play: 10
Written by Shane Blair on 04/16/2015